


Complicated Things

by AMidnightDreary



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Crush at First Sight, Demisexual Loki (Marvel), Drunken Flirting, First Meetings, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Human Disaster Tony Stark, Human Loki (Marvel), Humor, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Short & Sweet, Snark, Tony Stark Needs Sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28309677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMidnightDreary/pseuds/AMidnightDreary
Summary: 5 times Tony sees Loki + 1 time he's stopped counting.
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Comments: 43
Kudos: 193





	Complicated Things

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rabentochter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabentochter/gifts).



> Merry Christmas, Sesil! I hope you're having nice holidays, and just know that I think you're brilliant and I love you dearly. Thank you for being my friend!❤ 
> 
> Also I hope you like this, even though it's a bit chaotic maybe, but chaos is good, right

**1**

The first time he sees Loki, Tony is so drunk that he can't remember the theorem of Pythagoras, which is not only the most embarrassing thing about the encounter, but also the most embarrassing moment of his whole life.

He stumbles into the kitchen on his erratic search for something to eat, but what he finds instead is this: the Perfectest Man In The Whole Wide World, in the tiny kitchen of Thor's tiny apartment, making tea and looking at Tony as if he is a dead bird the cat dragged in.

"Oh," Tony says. "Hi."

The Perfectest Man In The Whole Wide World keeps staring at him, as if the dead bird just said something exceptionally stupid. "Hello," he says and,  _ god, _ that voice.

That's it. Tony's done for.

"I like you," he declares, and the man blinks very slowly.

"I see," he says then. "How droll."

"Do you wanna know why I like you?"

"Not particularly."

_ "Because _ you're pretty."

"And here I thought my inner values were what really counted."

"And you're  _ sassy. _ I like sassy, and your voice - it's spectengangular."

The man turns back to the kitchen counter to pour hot water into a green mug with glittering golden letters that read I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT MY FACE DOES WHEN YOU TALK, and Tony likes that, too.

"I like your mug, too," he says.

The man looks at him as if he wants to kill the bird a second time. 

"Also you're awake at like, four in the aftermorning," Tony says. "That's amazing."

"That's not a real time," the man informs him.

"And  _ clever. _ I'm clever, too. I'm a genius."

"Yes, I've noticed."

"I have  _ three _ PhDs. That's one more than Bruce. And four more than Thor."

The man leans against the counter, his hands wrapped against the mug. "I hope you're not studying maths."

"Mh. Did that already."

"Really."

"Yeah, I can prove it. Do you want me to prove it?" 

"Naturally."

He looks at Tony expectantly, and Tony frowns. "Uh. How?"

The man takes a sip of his tea. "The only thing I remember from school is the theorem of Pythagoras."

"Oh. Yeah. There's - letters in that one."

"Yes," the man says. "You're truly brilliant. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do."

"Oh, okay."

The man leaves the kitchen, and Tony looks at his ass while he goes, or at least he tries to. He thinks he's seeing double a bit. Anyway, he's forgotten why he entered the kitchen at all, and now he ventures back into the living room, where Thor and Bruce have passed out on the sofa.

"Thor," Tony says.

Thor grunts.

"Is there a hot guy living in your apartment?"

"Huh?"

"A hot guy," Tony repeats. "Tall and - pretty, and dark hair, and kinda annoyed."

Thor opens his eyes to narrow them at Tony. "Are you talking about my brother?"

That makes sense, given that Thor has mentioned a brother before, so Tony nods and flops down on the carpet. He lies there for a while, thoughts split between said brother and his own rising urge to empty his stomach onto the ground next to him.

"Thor," he says again.

Thor grunts again.

"S'your brother into guys?"

"Loki does not like people," Thor says firmly.

"Oh."

Tony stays quiet, and after a moment Thor starts to snore. Tony keeps staring at the ceiling. Finally, he says, "He's the Perfectest Man In The Whole Wide World, though."

"That's incorrect," Bruce mutters. 

Tony kind of thought Bruce was dead, but oh well. "What?"

"Perfectest," Bruce says. "Incorrect."

"Shut up."

**2**

The second time he sees Loki, Tony is considerably less drunk, but also considerably more tired, and that is, objectively, worse.

"God," Tony says. "I wish I was asleep. Why am I not asleep? I hate not being asleep."

"I'm familiar with the feeling."

Tony frowns and looks to his side, where Loki, Thor's brother, is standing and looking at the shelf in front of them, apparently searching for a book himself.

"God," Tony says, again.. "I swear I'm not that stupid as I sounded that one time."

"I'm sure," Loki says.

"I was just very drunk."

"Obviously."

Tony looks at Loki for a long time, and he finally understands that something about this situation is very weird. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, let me see," Loki says thoughtfully, without looking at Tony. "What would a student do in the library at 9am, a few days before a very important exam?" He finally pulls a book out of the shelf, then looks at Tony blankly. "I'm afraid I can't come up with a single reason."

"No," Tony says. "I mean, what are you doing  _ here?  _ All these books are about astrophysics. You're not studying astrophysics."

"I'm not?" Loki asks. "Why, I wish you had told me this sooner, then I wouldn't have wasted the last year studying for a subject I am not in fact studying."

"You said the only thing about maths you remembered from school was -"

"I lied," Loki says and turns to leave. "And honestly I am surprised you even remember that."

"Okay, I was drunk, but I wasn't  _ that _ drunk. Of course I remember."

"Spectengangular," Loki says, and then he's gone.

**3**

The third time he sees Loki, Tony thinks that maybe they can have an actual, at least sort of normal conversation, because he's neither drunk nor tired, actually he's feeling pretty great. He just finished an important chunk of work and now he's even out for a fucking run, mostly because Rhodey has been saying that Tony's getting fat, even though he's not getting fat. He's eaten nothing but two cold slices of pizza in the last four days.

He's running through the park that's close to his apartment, and since the park is also close to the apartment Loki shares with Thor, it's not a surprise to see him here, sitting on a bench with a book in his hand. Tony is still surprised, though, because he thinks it's odd that he didn't see Loki at all in the time before the Too Drunk To Flirt Properly Incident, and now they just keep crossing ways. 

He stops in front of the bench, breathing heavily. "Hey."

Loki looks up, surprised, and blinks at him. "Oh. You."

Tony steps closer to the bench. "I get that I haven't made the best impression so far, but I don't think that weary tone of voice is justified."

"You're right," Loki says. "You really haven't made the best impression."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"You don't sound very sorry."

Tony has to grin. He decides that changing the topic is a good idea. "I don't think we've been, you know, actually introduced, so - I'm Tony."

"I know," Loki says. "I'm Loki."

Tony is still grinning. "I know. C'mon, I'll buy you a coffee. Or a tea or, you know - whatever you want."

Loki looks stunned. "Why?"

"I still have to prove I'm a genius, right? I'm working on my fourth PhD, and I could use another genius to talk to."

"Oh," Loki says. "Yes, they do say that flattery gets you everywhere."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes," Loki says, and so they go and sit down in the nearest café.

And, wonder of wonders, they actually do have an actual, at least sort of normal conversation.

Actually, they don't stop talking for hours.

**4**

The fourth time he sees Loki, Tony feels like it's not actually  _ just _ the fourth time, because ever since they met in the park, they've been texting regularly (read: the whole time), and once or twice they even talked on the phone. 

But now Tony is in Thor's tiny apartment again, and more importantly he's in Loki's room, and it's like he has never seen this many books in one place. Somehow, Loki's room seems to be more stuffed full with them than a goddamn library.

"I like to read," Loki explains when he seed Tony's raised brows.

"I mean, yeah," Tony says, gesturing at the army of ink and paper. "That's kinda obvious. Are you sure you're not studying literature or something?"

"Yes, quite. Sit down, you're making me nervous."

Tony sits down on Loki's bed. Loki has been waiting for him, but he didn't get up to greet Tony, so he's still sitting on the floor in front of the bed, a book in his lap. He didn't even let Tony into the apartment - that was Thor, who had grinned and pointed Tony to Loki's room, not without giving him the shortest and most cheerful shovel talk in history of shovel talks. 

Thor knows that Loki doesn't  _ need _ his protection, but he protects him, anyway; that's why he moved to Massachusetts with his younger brother when their asshole of a father threw Loki out. Thor told that story once or twice before Tony and Loki met, but somehow Tony never asked a single question about the brother in question.

In a way that's good, because now Tony can find everything about Loki out himself. By now he knows that Loki really is a genius, and that he's even sassier than first impressions lead you to believe, that he knows a bit about  _ everything, _ but mostly he just always knows what to say. He's good with words and good with numbers, too, because his brain was made to think about complicated things just like Tony's. He takes his tea without sugar and doesn't need coffee to stay awake, which probably makes him a superhuman, and he's witty, funny, attentive,  _ charming. _ He's also a bit of an asshole when he wants to be, and he wants that pretty often. As far as Tony is concerned, Loki is still the Perfectest Man In The Whole Wide World.

They talk about everything and nothing for a while, because that's why they're good at - they can jump from topic to topic, taking leaps that others probably wouldn't be able to follow, and so far they haven't gotten bored with each other. Tony doubts that will ever happen, and yes, maybe that's a sappy thing to think. So what?

"Hey, Loki."

"Mh hm."

"You remember when we met?"

"I wish I wouldn't."

"Liar. Anyway, Thor said something, and I'm kinda still thinking about it."

"You shouldn't think too much about anything Thor says," Loki advises him, wise as he is. "It's nonsense most of the time."

Tony snorts. He looks down at Loki, feeling a little nervous "He said you don't like people. Did he mean - you know, if you're not interested in the whole relationship thing and - and everything that goes with it, that would be fine."

Loki leans his head back against the bed so that he can peer up at Tony. "Are you asking me to be your boyfriend, Tony?"

"Uh. No."

"Very convincing."

"I mean just - you know. In general."

Loki thinks about it for a while, then he shrugs. "I haven't met a lot of people who interest me," he says then. "I've tried the 'whole relationship thing', but it got boring very quickly. But I don't think that was what Thor wanted to tell you."

"No?"

"No. He just wanted to inform you that I am not fond of being assaulted by a drunk stranger in the middle of the night, and that I get annoyed and frustrated very easily."

"I didn't  _ assault _ you."

"No, but you were very annoying."

"I already apologized for that."

"Anyway," Loki says pointedly, "I believe Thor was just warning you against my revenge if you annoyed me."

Tony looks at him, frowning. "You didn't prank me, though."

"I wanted to," Loki says.

"But?"

Loki rolls his eyes. "But then we saw each other in the library, and you looked like mere existence was already a severe enough punishment for you. And then we saw each other in the park, and you actually managed to be charming, so I changed my mind."

For some unfathomable reason, that makes Tony feel all warm and giddy. "I like you, too."

Loki gives him a dry look. "Because I'm pretty."

"Because you're pretty awesome."

Loki wrinkles his nose, says, "You have to work on your pick-up lines," and goes back to reading his book.

Tony drags him up onto the bed ten minutes later.

**5**

The fifth time he sees Loki, it's just seconds after Tony woke up in the next morning, and Loki tells him that he has to get out of bed within the next five minutes, because Loki has to leave to go to class. Loki isn't grumpy, though; he's throwing Tony out but he's smirking in a way that borders on smiling, and his hands were gentle when he shook Tony awake, just like his voice when he said good morning.

He also leaves a mug on the nightstand before he goes into the bathroom, the green mug with the golden letters. He also leans down to kiss Tony's cheek, and Tony is not at all responsible for the besotted smile on his face.

**+1**

Tony has stopped counting, because now, more than a year after he first saw Loki, they've seen each other countless times. On most days, Loki is the first thing Tony sees in the morning and the last thing he sees before he falls asleep.

That's the greatest part of living together, Tony thinks.


End file.
